Expanding tool



Sept. 10, 1929. w. B. TEMPLETON ET AL 1,727,914

EXPANDING TOOL Filed Feb. 26, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 mull v jiwe/ziflvr wi ly g Ewan? 25 JJa/i Mgf Sept. 10, 1929. w. B. TEMPLETON ET AL 1,727,914

EXPANDING TOOL Filed Feb. 26, 1926 2 sheets sheet 2 Patented Sept. 10, 1929.

UNITED STATES "PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER IB. TEMPLETON AND JOSEPH MALICKI, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS; SAID MALIGKI ASSIGNOR TO SAID TEMPLETON.

EXPANDING TOOL.

Application filed February 26, 1926, Serial No. 90,764, and in Mexico June 19, 1925.

This invention relates to tools and appliances in the general nature of jacks that are used to effect lifting, expanding, spacing and other similar operations through the employment of manually operated means by which a high leverage and great lifting or expanding power are obtained. In its principal contemplated application and use the tool of our present invention is intended as an 0 instrument for adjusting and correcting the spacing of adjacent members, such as the ties of a railway track, in which work the tool is used in a substantially prone position; but it will be manifest that the tool may also be advantageously employed in a vertical or inclined position to effect expansive lifting operations, for which work it possesses a greater reach and greater adaptability to different situations and uses than the ordinary lifting jack.

It is well-known that railway ties, especially when laid in a dirt or cinder bed, sometimes work askew and get out of correct position, and hence require to be readjusted. Re-

adjustment of the position of the ties with reference to the rail joints is also sometimes required.

Various implements for shifting the position of rails and ties have heretofore been proposed, butwe have discovered that the necessity of using a special implement for effecting the shifting and spacing of ties may be obviated, and this Work done by the ordinary track or other jack when equipped with a special attachment adapting it for this work; and the main object of our present invention is to provide, in combination with a jack, an attachment, comprising a novel cap and cooperating shoe, which peculiarly adapts and fits it for the work of shifting and spacing ties, and also gives it an increased range of usefulness for other expansive operations.

With reference to the use of the tool in railway track work to correct or change the spacing of ties, it may be noted than one form of jack commonly employed for lifting rails and ties to permit retamping of the latter comprises generally a slotted upright casing having a substantial base, a 'lifting bar slidably mounted in the casing with a forwardly projecting foot on its lower end, and lever-actuated pawl and ratchet mechanism for raising and holding the lifting bar. When this jack is laid on its face across one or more ties with its base and the footof the lifting bar exerting opposed thrusts on the adjacent faces of two ties, the lifting foot engaged with one of the ties is so short relatively to the depth of the tie that it tends to roll the latter and tip it up on the opposite '60 side rather than push it in astraight horizontal direction. To adapt a jack of this type to satisfactory tie-shifting and spacing work, as well as to otherwise increase the capacity and range of usefulness of the jack, we have designed the attachment forming the principal subject-matter of our present invention, which, in several practical forms, is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a jack equipped with our improved tie-spacing attachment; Fig. 2 is a top plan of our improved cap attachment for the lifting bar and of the shoe mounted therein; v

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the cap with the shoe broken off below the same;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation'of a modified form of shoe;

Fig. 5 is a similar View of another modified form of shoe; i

i Fig. 6 is an enlarged cross-section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 4;

Fig.7 is an enlarged cross-section on the line 7-7 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of a fragment of railway track illustrating the manner of using our improved expanding tool as a tiespacer; and

Figs. 9 and 10 are elevations showing the jack in upright position and illustrating its adaptability and, capacity for upright lifting or expanding operations when equipped with the shoe shown in Fig5.

Referring to the drawings, 10 designates the vertical slotted casingand 11 the base if a well-known form of railway track jack.

12 is the vertically slidable toothed lifting bar of the same, 14 and 15 the lifting and holding or dogging pawls and 16 the operating handlelever. 17 is the usual lifting shoe on the lower end of the lifting bar 12, which slides through a vertical slot in the face of the casing 10.

To adapt this tool to the service of a satisfactory tie shifter and spacer, we securely mount and fasten, by a cross-pin 18, on the upper end of the lifting bar 12 a head piece or cap 19. This cap is preferably a drop forging, and, as best shown in Figs. 2 and 3, is formed with a pair of parallel forwardly projecting flanges 21, on the inner sides of which flanges are formed a pair of inwardly projecting symmetrical and oppositely facing vertical lugs 22. .23' designates the leg or shank and 2a the foot of a tie-pushing shoe that is alsopreferably a drop forging and is suspended from the cap 19 on the lugs 22. To render this shoe readily applicable to and removable from the cap, the leg or shank 23 is provided in its opposite edges with longitudinal grooves 25 that are, engaged by the lugs 22 of the cap. These grooves'terminate short of the upper end of the leg so that the latter has a substantial suspension bearing on the upper ends of the lugs 22. In Fig. l'we have shown the grooves 25 as continuous and opening through the lower end of theheel of the foot 24. Manifestly in this case the tie-pushing member is applied to and removed from the jack by sliding it full length over the suspension lugs 22. I

In Fig. 4 we illustrate a modification in the side grooves of the leg or shank 23, the same comprising longitudinal grooves 25 that extend through substantially the upper half of the leg and then open through the rear side of the leg as shown at 26. These openings 26 are slightly greater in height than the lugs 22, and with this construction the attachment is applied to thehead by en- ,tering the lugs through the lateral groove terminals 26 and then sliding the attachment down until it is suspended by the lugs 22.

The same principle exemplified in the structure'of' Fig. a is carried further'iii the modified structure shown in Fig. 5 wherein 'thesides of the leg'are formed with, a plurality of spaced relatively short grooves 25 each of which opens through the rear wall of "the leg, as shown at 26, these latter openings 26 beingsimilar structurally and functionally to the opening 26 shown in Fig. 4. The shoe is applied 'to the cap in the same manner as described in connection with 4,

but manifestly is enabled to be hung from the cap at different heights, thus effecting difierentspacings of the foot 2% from the jack base 11, asas shown in Figs. 9 and 10. This multiple suspension attachment illustrated in Fig. 5 is of advantage in that is enables 'thespacing of the attachment foot 24 andthe jack'base 11 to be more closely ap- .proximated' to the spacing of the two ties which are to be relatively shifted than is have a sliding fit on the inner opposed faces of the suspension lugs 22 of the cap, and the width of said grooves is also preferably such that they will have a sliding fit on the front and rear faces of the lugs 22. By virtue of these structural features and the fact that the lugs 22 are of substantial height or depth, when the shoe attachment is mounted on the head of the ack, and the latter is lowered to or raised from the prone tie-spacing position shown in Fig. 8, the attachment does not tend to swing away from the face of the ack or require to be held against the latter while the jack is being positioned across the ties. It will also be observed that the foot 2% of the attachment member is of substantial length, being approximately equal to the length of the forward portion of the base 11, so that the foot 24 engages the rear side of the tie to be shifted throughout more than one-half the height of the latter, whereby the tie is shifted along a straight horizontal path, and the tendency to roll or heel up the tie heretofore referred to is avoided.

The mode of manipulating the tool for tie spacing purposes is sufficiently clearly illustrated inFig. 8 not to require detailed description. Assuming, in the instance shown, that the tie T is to be pushed away from the tie T, the tool is mounted on the track in the manner shown with the base 11 footed against the tie T and the foot 24 engaged with the rear side of the tie T. The dirt, cinder or other ballast in front of the tie T having been removed or loosened up, by a few manipulations of the jack handle 16 the tie T is quickly 7 andeasily shifted into the required position. Any number of ties in rear of the tie T can .be similarly spaced and the ballast will then ing purposes as for car and bridge jacks, and,

for track work, converting a track jack into a ballast jack. To better adapt the shoe to such upright lifting or spacing operations, the upper end of the latter is preferablywidened to form a head 27, adapted to present a substantial bearing on an object to be raised. Hence, our invention is not at all limited in its character and field of usefulness to a tiespacing implement.

It will be readily understood that for the purposes of this invention as a tie-spacer, special structural features of the jack are not essential, so long as the jack frame has a base of sufficient length, that, when the jack is laid on its face across a tie as shown in Fig. 8, it will reach below the middle of the tie against which it abuts, and the lifting bar is capable of having the cap or head attached thereto. This cap or head may, therefore, be manufactured independently and secured to the lifting bar of any suitable jack. It is also apparent that the described shoe member which abuts against the other tie and is su pended from the lugs of the cap is likewise capable of independent manufacture for cooperation with any jacks equipped with the head or cap herein shown. The invention, therefore, resides not alone in the combination of the described cap and shoe, but also in each of these features considered as separate devices.

We claim- 1. In an expanding tool of the character described, the combination with a jack having a vertically slidable lifting bar, of a cap attached to the upper end of said lifting bar and formed on its front face with a pair of opposed inwardly directed vertical suspension lugs, and a removable shoe member comprising a leg formed in its opposite edges with longitudinal grooves closed at their upper ends and opening through the rear side of said leg and adapted to be entered through said openings over and slidably engaged with said lugs, and a forwardly projecting foot on its lower end.

2. In an expanding tool of the character described, the combination with a jack having a vertically slidable lifting bar, of a cap attached to the upper end of said lifting bar and formed on its front face with forwardly projecting side flanges and a pair of opposed inwardly directed fiat Vertical suspension lugs on the inner sides of said flanges, and a removable shoe member comprising a depending leg formed in its opposite edges with a plurality of spaced longitudinal grooves each closed at its upper end and opening through the rear side of said leg and adapted to be entered through said openings over and slidably engaged with said lugs, and a forwardly projecting foot on its lower end.

3. As an element of an expansion appliance, a short block like cap adapted to be attached to one end only of the lifting bar of a jack and formed on one face with lugs adapted to have sliding engagement only with grooves in a shoe of a length greater than said block like cap so as to prevent the shoe, when suspended on the lugs, from swinging angularly away from the face of the jack frame.

4. As an element of an expanding tool, a detachable auxiliary shoe adapted to cooperate with a cap on a movable element of the tool and having a leg and a foot, the opposite sides of the leg of the shoe each having a plurality of grooves arranged in succession lengthwise thereof, each of the grooves being closed at one end and at its other end opening through a third side of the leg,

5. An expanding tool of the kind described embodying therein a jack body and a lifting bar longitudinally movable therein, a block like cap on one end of said bar, a shoe member of a length greater than that of said block like cap and having a foot at one end, means providing an inter-engaging tongue and groove supporting engagement for the shoe from said cap, said means maintaining the shoe in substantially parallel relation with the lifting bar when said bar is disposed in a horizontal position.

6. An expanding tool of the kind described embodying therein a jack body and a lifting bar longitudinally movable therein, a block like cap on one end of said bar, a shoe member of a length approximating that of the lifting bar and having a foot at one end and a head at the other end, there being a plurality of longitudinally spaced grooves in said shoe any one of which may be engaged with said cap, only upon complete separation between said shoe and cap, said engagement maintaining the shoe and lifting bar in substantial parallelism.

WALTER B. TEMPLETON. JOSEPH MALIOKI. 

